Improvement in apparatus for extracting oil



H. P. GENGE-MBRE.

Apparatus for Extracting Oii, 610., from Minerals.

152,284.- Patented Jan 3%1866.

N. PETERS. Pholo-Lifllognpher, Wishx nglnn. D. C.

Ilsnira I? TATES IMPROVEMENT IN APPARATUS FOR EXTRACTING OIL, &C., FROMMINERALS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 52,28 3, dated January30, 1866.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, H. P. GENGEMBRE, 0f the city of Pittsburg, in thecounty of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new andImproved Apparatus for Extracting Oil, Paraffine, Bitumen, 850., fromMinerals Containing the Same; and I do hereby declare that the followingis a full and eX- act description thereof, reference being bad to theaccompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon,which isa sectional elevation of the whole apparatus, explainin g soclearly the different parts as to require no other views.

The nature of my invention consists in an apparatus so constructed as tosubmit to the action of a solvent or solvents, in a rational,continuous, and progressive manner, the mineral containing oil,paraffine, or bitumen, and to recover the solvent or solvents byseparating it or them from the oil, paraffine,'or bitumen by a peculiardistillation.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I willproceed to describe its construction and mode of operation.

A is a vessel of cylindrical or other form, made of iron or lined wood.This vessel has a bottom shaped as a funnel, and at the bottom it has amill or crusher, B. This crusher is made something like a coffee-mill,but rollers or any other shape may answer as well. The vessel A rests onand communicates with a second vessel, 0, which can be made of anydesired shape, although I prefer it of a cylindrical one. It has itslower part terminated as a funnel, and has all over or over a part of ita steam-jacket, D D, so that it can be heated at pleasure.

E is a shaft oraxis placedlin alvertical position in the center of thevessels A arid O. This shaft E is acted upon by suitablejmachinery orgearing, so as to receive a rotary or oscillating movement, and it isused to turn or move the mill or crusher B. The plates 1) b b I), 850.,are flat disks or, circular plates, perforated with a few holes, andfast on the axis or shaft E, so that any motion of said shaft will causethe disks or circular plates to be moved. p

His an arch and rest or step which supports the shaft E and keeps it inits proper place.

K is a pipe lying horizontally, and having in its lower part a helix orscrew operating in the manner of those used for transferring grain fromone place to the other in a horizontal direction.

L is an elevator of any desired construction to carry up and away thesand or small parti. cles of mineral which are brought to it by thehelix in the pipe K.

M is the wagon to receive the spent mineral. I is a steam-pipe comingfrom a steanr boiler, and provided with a steam-valve.

J is a pipe leading from the vessel A to the reservoir N. N is a tank orreservoir communicating with the still P by a cock, 0.

P is a still having a double bottom. 19 is the pipe for filling thespace between the two bottoms. Q is a valve or cook for emptying thestill P.

R is a tank to receive the oil, paraffine, or bitumen after all thesolvent or solvents have been driven off from them by the heat of thestill P.

S is the furnace. T is the smoke-flue. U is the pipe leading from thestill P to the cooler or worm V. V is the worm or cooler.

X is a tank to receive the solvent, and Y Y is the pipe and valve tolead the solvent from the reservoir X to the vessel 0. r

1f the worm V and receiver X are placed lower than they are representedin the drawings, a force-pump will be introduced in pipe Y to supply theplace of the head.

Operation: The mineral to be treated is first reduced to lumps of propersize and thrown into the vessel A until it is full. A certain quantityof water is introduced, so as to fill the pipe K and part of the vessel0, and the cock Y is open, allowing the solventto run into the vessels 0and A until it overflows by the pipe J. The temperature of the vessel 0is raised by admitting steam into the jacket D, and steamis alsoadmitted by the pipe I for the same purpose. When the apparatus hasobtained the proper heat, which must vary according to the mineraltreated or the solvent used, the machinery is put into motion, the cockY is again open, and the vessel Akept supplied with fresh mineral, so asto have always some mineral over the surface of the solvent. The mineralsoftened by the action of the solvent is easily ground by the mill orcrusher B, and reduced to small particles whichfall upon the revolvingdisk or table G, The motion of the disk G will cause the small particlesof mineral to be agitated and washed by the solvent, and also to fallthrough the holes in the disk G to the .next disk, and so on from one tothe other. This will keep the small particles of mineral along time incontact with the heated solvent, and as they descend they come incontact with cleaner solvent.

I have represented but one of the vessels C but if a mineral requires tobe washed by the solvent a longer time, two or more vessels, as the onerepresented by O, can be put one under the other. i

The clean solvent arriving by the pipe Y will drive upward in the vessel0 and in the vessel A the solvent already charged with oil, paraffine,or bitumen, which will overflow by the pipe J, while the small particlesof mineral, thoroughly cleansed from oil, paraffine, or bitumen, willreach the heated water in the lower part of the vessel 0. There, partlyby mechanical action, partly by reason of the difference of specificgravity between the solvent and the water, and partly by process ofdistillation, all the solvent will be expelled from the particles ofspent mineral, which will collect in the pipe K and be taken by thehelix or screw to the elevator L, and be carried away out of theapparatus.

The process can now go on in a continuous manner, the solvent, saturatedwith oil, para-ffine, or bitumen, accumulating in the reservoir N. Whenthe reservoir N is full the cock 0 is open and the contents of the tankN are transferred to the still P, the cock 0 is shut, and the processgoes on.

In the space Z left between the two bottoms of the still P a solution ofsalt in water, or any other baths, is introduced by the pipe 19. Thatsolution must be such that it will boil at a given point, and that pointis determined by the quantity of salt introduced in the solution. Thismust vary with the nature of the mineral and solvent, but must be soregulated that itwill guide the distillation so as to expel all thesolvent from the still P and retain the oil, bitumen, or paraffine. Thisarrangement has the great advantage of enabling the fire to remainconstantly under the still, even when it is being emptied or filled,without any danger or injury to the still, and it enables any one toconduct the distillation successfully.

The solvent is vaporized, ascends the pipe U, is condensed in the wormV, and received in the tank X, where it is ready to be used again by thepipe Y Y.

As soon as the distillation is over the cock Q. is open, the oil,paraffine, and bitumen are run in the cooling-tank R, and, the cock Qbeing shut, the still P may be at once filled again by the cock 0, asbefore, thus keeping the operation constantly going.

It will be perceived that the fire in the furnace S can remain all thetime lighted, and that the lost heat therefrom is utilized in the finesT T to heat the pipe K and the bottom of the vessel 0.

What I claim as my intention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent ofthe United States, is-

1. The apparatus composed of the vessel A, vessel 0, or of two vesselsor more, A and U, in combinationwith the still P, pipes Y and J, tanks Nand X, and furnace S, and lines T T, or any modification of the same,working and operating substantially in the same manner, for the purposespecified.

2. The vessel A, crusher B, yessel 0, tables I) I) b, 850., shaft E,pipe K, elevator L, pipe Y, and pipes I and J, when used for extracting,by means of a solvent, oil, paraffine, or bitumen from mineralcontaining the same.

3. The still P, receiver N, double bottom space Z,filled with an aqueoussolution ot'salts, when combined with the worm V, tank X, pipe Y, vessel(3, vessel A, pipe J, and furnace S, for recovering the solvent used inthe operation and graduating the oil, parafiine, or bitumen obtained toits proper gravity.

H. r. GENGEMBBE. 1 s]

